Larry Shenk, Vice President of Alumni Relations, shares his notes, quotes and anecdotes from the world of baseball.

Happy Birthday Lou….Where are you?

Rays of sunshine are pouring down on Bright House Field for an afternoon game against the Rays. (Geez, that is really corny).

Another sellout in the books. Yesterday’s crowd was 10,724, a new Bright House Field record.

With the minor league camp only 200 yards away, there’s a lot of interaction between the two camps. Big league players can get in some innings or at-bats at Carpenter Complex. Minor leaguers are sent over for big league games. Michael Stutes yesterday pitched the ninth inning and picked up the win.

Polanco spent some 30 minutes talking with the Hispanic minor league players the other day. Halladay will be speaking with the pitchers. This morning, Davey Lopes had a bunch of minor league players on the half field at Bright House Field going over base-stealing. Very little time is wasted in either camp.

Happy BirthdayLou Lucier is a 5-foor-8 right-handed former Phillies pitcher who is celebrating his 92nd birthday today. He pitched for the Phillies in 1944-45 and wore #36.

He is one of 10 Phillies Alumni who are the Nonagenarian Club (90 years of age or older).

We are sending a birthday gift to our 90 year olds. Unfortunately, we don’t have an address for Lou. So, if anyone out there knows his whereabouts, kindly let me know.

Alumni MemoriesA daily feature–spring training memories by Phillies Alumni, who were asked three questions: (1) Memories of their very first spring training; (2) What they liked the most about spring training, and (3) What did they like the least.

Bob Dernier (OF, 1980-83; 1988-89)“I went from AA to the majors in September in 1980 so I hadn’t been in a spring training camp before I got to the big leagues which was kind of unique. The following year, I was in camp with the World Champions at Jack Russell Stadium. It was exciting and at the same time, somewhat intimidating. But, Schmidt, Pete and Tug made me feel like I belonged. I lived on the beach with Marty Bystrom and later with Von Hayes. The atmosphere of spring training was great. Lot of fond times and memories. For me, I’d wake up at 6 every morning and run on the beach for 30 minutes and get to the park about 7:30. I just loved that part. Not knowing if you were going to make a club or hearing trade rumors were things I didn’t care for. In 1984 I was traded at the end of spring training. I was kind of down because when you get traded it’s like you get divorced.”

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